30th  Congress, 
2d  Session. 


[SENATE.] 


Rep.  Com., 
No.  244. 


n 


IN  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


December  19,  1848.  * 

Submitted,  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

Mr.  Breese  made  the  following 

■  REPORT 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  No.  355.] 

The  Committee  on  Public  Lands ,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill 
granting  to  the  State  of  Illinois  the  right  of  way  and  a  donation 
of  public  lands ,  for  making  a  railroad  connecting  the  upper  and 
lower  Mississippi  with  the  chain  of  northern  lakes ,  at  Chicago , 
have  given  it  the  most  carejul  examination ,  and  respectfully  ask 
leave  to  report: 

That  the  bill  proposes  to  grant  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  that  State  in  completing  the  Central  railroad 
from  Cairo,  via  Chicago,  on  Lake  Michigan,  to  the  upper  Missis¬ 
sippi,  on  the  most  eligible  route;  and  also  for  the  northern  cross 
railroad  extending  from  the  Mississippi  river,  via  Springfield,  to 
the  Indiana  line,  with  a  branch  to  Alton,  from  a  point  between 
Springfield  and  the  Illinois  river,  on  the  most  eligible  route,  a 
quantity  of  land  equal  to  one-half  of  six  alternate  sections  in  width 
on  each  side  of  said  railroads,  to  be  selected  by  an  agent  or  agents, 
to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State,  subject  to  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

As  alternate  sections  alone  are  granted,  the  bill  provides  that 
those  which  remain  to  the  United  States  shall  not  be  sold  for  less 
than  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  at  which  price  a  pre-emp¬ 
tion  right  is  granted  to  the  State  on  those  sections  for  five  years 
from  the  passage  of  the  act. 

The  bill  further  provides  that  these  lands  shall  be  applied  to 
those  uses  by  the  State,  and  none  other;  and  that  the  railroad  shall 
be  a  public  highway,  for  the  use  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  free  from  toll  or  other  charge  upon  the  transportation  of 
troops  and  munitions  of  war  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  further  provided  by  the  bill,  that  the  lands  proposed  to  be 
granted  shall  be  disposed  of  by  the  State  in  the  following  man¬ 
ner  namely:  that  a  quantity,  not  exceeding  sixty  sections  on 
on  each  of  said  roads,  and  included  within  a  continuous  length  of 
ten  miles  of  each  road,  may  be  sold  when  the  governor  of  the  State 
shall  certify  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  ten  miles  of  any 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 

[  2#r]u:r:.ANA  -champaigns 
ILL.  HIST.  SURVEY 

of  said  roads  are  completed;  then  another  like  quantity  may  be 
sold  on  the  road,  and  so  on  from  time  to  time  until  the  roads  are 
completed;  and  if  the  roads  are  not  completed  within  ten  years, 
no  further  sales  shall  be  made,  and  the  unsold  lands  shall  revert  to 
the  United  States. 

The  bill  further  provides,  that  before  it  shall  be  competent  for 
the  State  to  dispose  of  any  of  the  lands  to  be  selected,  a  plat  or 
plats  of  the  courses,  and  distances,  and  points  of  termination  of 
the  roads  shall  be  furnished  by  the  State  to  the  Commissioner  of 
the  General  Land  Office. 

The  bill  further  proposes  to  authorize  the  State  to  survey  and 
mark  through  the  public  lands  the  routes  of  these  roads,  and  to 
vest  in  the  State,  forever,  one  hundred  feet  for  a  road-way  for  each 
road,  on  both  sides  of  each  road  respectively;  and  it  is  provided  that 
no  lands  reserved  for  schools,  or  for  military  or  other  purposes,  or 
mineral  lands,  or  lands  to  which  the  right  of  pre-emption  has  at¬ 
tached,  shall  be  selected. 

The  last  section  provides  that  the  mails  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  carried  on  these  roads  under  the  regulations  of  the 
Post  Office  Department,  at  the  minimum  price  for  similar  services 
paid  on  other  railroads,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  the 
State  and  the  department  as  to  the  price,  then  the  matter  in  dis¬ 
pute  is  to  be  referred  to  the  United  States  district  judge  of  that 
State  for  his  decision. 

Having  given  this  synopsis  of  the  bill,  the  committee  would  re¬ 
mark,  that  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  several  bills  were  referred 
to  this  committee,  accompanied  by  memorials  numerously  signed 
by  all  the  functionaries  of  the  State  of  Illinois;  by  the  members  of 
the  convention  assembled  to  amend  their  State  constitution,  and  by 
individuals  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  praying  for  a  grant  or  a 
pre-emption  on  a  portion  of  the  public  lands,  to  aid  in  completing 
the  central  railroad  in  that  State;  a  road,  which  the  committee  are 
informed,  occupied  the  most  prominent  place  in  that  vast  system 
of  internal  improvements  commenced  by  her  on  her  own  unaided 
resources  in  1837,  and  on  which  work  alone  she  has  expended  more 
than  one  million  of  dollars,  and  which  runs  for  almost  its  entire 
length  through  lands  owned  by  the  United  States. 

It  did  not  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  plan  of  those  memorialists 
to  include  in  their  prayer  a  grant  of  land  for  any  other  road  but 
the  central  railroad,  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  river 
north  to  Galena,  on  the  upper  Mississippi  river.  Other  memorialists 
suggested  the  plan  of  forming  the  connexion  between  the  lower 
Mississippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  upper,  at  Chicago,  an 
important  city  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  thus  bring  those  vast  navi¬ 
gable  waters  into  immediate  and  close  connexion.  Neither  set  of 
memorialists  proposed  a  grant  for  any  other  roads;  and  the  com¬ 
mittee,  having  determined  in  favor  of  the  last  proposition,  re¬ 
turned  the  bill  to  the  Senate,  accompanied  by  an  elaborate  report, 
to  which  this  committee  respectfully  refer,  and  invoked  the  fa¬ 
vorable  action  of  Congress  upon  it.  In  the  Senate  the  bill  was 
amended,  by  adding  to  it  a  grant  of  alternate  sections  for  the  com- 


3 


[  244  ] 

pletion  of  the  northern  cross  railroad,  extending  from  the  Indiana 
line  west  through  Springfield,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  State, 
to  Quincy,  a  growing  and  important  city  on  the  upper  Mississippi,' 
and  nearly  on  the  proper  line  of  connexion  of  the  distant  frontiers 
of  Missouri  and  the  Pacific  ocean  with  the  Atlantic.  This  road 
was  also,  the  committee  are  informed,  another  important  part  of  the 
State’s  great  system,  and  on  which  more  than  a  million  of  dollars 
has  been  expended  by  the  State,  and  a  portion  of  which  is  now  in 
active  and  profitable  operation.  Another  amendment  was  made  in 
the  Senate,  proposing  a  grant  of  land  for  a  branch  of  this  road  to 
Alton,  also  on  the  Mississippi  river;  and  in  this  form,  thus 
amended,  it  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  more  than  two  to  one. 

It  is  now  before  the  committee  in  the  form  in  which  it  has  before 
received  the  sanction  of  the  Senate,  with  the  important  additional 
provision,  that  on  the  alternate  sections  reserved  to  the  United 
States>  the  price  of  which  is  doubled  by  the  bill,  a  pre-emption  is 
proposed  to  be  granted  to  the  State  for  five  years  at  that  price. 

This,  the  committee  believe,  is  a  brief  but  correct  history  of  the 
progress  of  this  measure,  and  Congress  is  again  called  upon  to  give 
its  aid  to  effect  the  important  purposes  contemplated  by  it. 

The  committee  will  not  present,  at  this  time,  in  detail,  the  con¬ 
siderations  which  influenced  them  at  the  last  session  to  report  fa¬ 
vorably  upon  this  proposition,  presuming  they  have  not,  escaped 
the  attention  of  the  Senate.  Some  general  views,  confined  to  the 
importance  of  these  roads  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  to  the  United 
States,  and  to  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  render  the 
aid^desired,  in  the  form  of  grants  of  land,  with  a  reference  to  acts 
of  Congress  passed  for  similar  purposes,  from  the  foundation  of  the 
government  to  the  present  time,  will  alone  be  presented. 

If  Congress  has  power  to  make  the  grants'  for  the  purposes  indi¬ 
cated,  there  will  then  remain  to  the  committee  no  other  labor  but 
to  show  the  importance  of  the  roads  to  the  State,  for  whose  benefit 
‘he  grant  is  proposed  to  be  made,  and  to  the  United  States,  the 
grea^  proprietor  of  the  public  domain. 

And,  first,  as  to  the  power  of  Congress  under  the  constitution, 
to  make  the  grants. 

Whilst  the  committee  repudiate  the  idea  of  favoritism  to  a 
system  of  internal  improvements  by  the  money  of  the  general  gov¬ 
ernment,  they  are  unanimously  of  opinion,  that  the  policy  of  grant¬ 
ing  lands  by  the  great  proprietor  of  the  public  domain,  through 
whicn  roads  are  proposed  to  be  made  by  the  States  in  which  the 
lands  are  situate,  has  no  analogy  whatever  to  such  a  system,  pro¬ 
ducing  none  of  the  evils  of  it,  and  unmeasured  benefit  to  the  pro¬ 
prietor — the  United  States.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
oy  the  second  clause  of  the  third  section  of  the  fourth  article,  has 
given  to  Congress  in  express  terms,  u  power  to  dispose  of,  and 
make  all  needtul  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States.”  These  lands  are 
the.  u  territory”  and  u  property”  of  the  United  States,  or  at  least 
;  claimed  to  be,  and  the  power  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  as 
such  territory,  or  property,  is  full,  ample,  and  unqualified.  What 


4 


[  244] 

shall  be  a  proper  disposal  of  them,  under  this  expressly  granted 
power,  is  a  question  solely  in  the  discretion  of  Congress,  in  subjec¬ 
tion  only  to  the  declaration  of  the  trust  with  which  their  cession 
to  the  United  States  was  accompanied. 

What  was  that  declaration? 

That  the  lands  so  ceded  “  shall  be  formed  into  distinct  republi¬ 
can  States,”  and  “shall  be  considered  as  a  common  fund  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  all  the  States,  and  shall  be  faithfully  and  bona  fide 
disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and  no  other.” 

The  very  first  act  of  any  importance  performed  by  the  United 
States  under  this  trust,  so  called,  was  to  pledge  these  lands  for 
the  payment  of  the  revolutionary  debt,  and  that  was  considered  a 
proper  disposal  of  them  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  States. 
What  is  the  disposal  of  them  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
States,  is  a  question  for  Congress,  in  which  all  the  States  are 
represented,  to  decide.  The  receipt  of  money  for  them  is  not 
necessarily  a  common  benefit  to  all  the  States,  for  there  are*other 
varied  and  multiplied  considerations  which  may,  consistently 
with  a  proper  appreciation  of,  and  a  sacred  regard  to,  the  common 
benefit,  control  the  action  of  Congress  in  their  disposal,  in  which 
money  need  not  be  an  element.  Congress  may  convey  the  title 
to  all  of  them  to  the  States  in  which  they  are  situate,  if  in  its 
judgment  the  common  interest  would  be-promoted  thereby.  It  is 
a  proper  question  for  Congress  to  determine,  in  the  honest  execu¬ 
tion  of  the  trust,  if  the  common  benefit,  under  a  certain  state  of 
circumstances,  would  not  be  best  promoted  by  an  unconditional  ces¬ 
sion  of  all  the  lands  to  the  States  in  which  they  lie.  A  direct  pe¬ 
cuniary  gain  is  not  a  necessary  element.  Whilst  they  were  pledged 
for  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the  revolution,  the  Congress  of 
the  confederation  gave  frequent  evidence  of  their  views  of  their 
power  under  the  trust,  the  correctness  of  which  has  never  been 
questioned,  by  granting  for  religious  purposes  one  section  of  land 
in  each  township  within  the  boundaries  of  the  several  tracts  pf 
land  sold  to  the  Ohio  company  and  to  John  Cleves  Symmes.  In 
1788,  a  grant  was  made  of  ten  thousand  acres  to  the  society  of  the 
“United  Brethren”  for  the  same  purpose;  in  the  same  year,  Con¬ 
gress  ceded  to  Pennsylvania  the  tract  on  Lake  Erie,  known  as  the 
“Triangle,”  which  the  United  States  owned  by  cession  from  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  and  new  York,  and  made  donations  to  the  heads  of  fami¬ 
lies  of  four  hundred  acres  each,  distributed  by  lot  to  the  early  set¬ 
tlers  of  Illinois  and  Indiana- 

After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  in  1796,  Congress  granted 
to  the  French  settlers  at  Galliopolis  24,000  acres,  on  condition  of 
actual  settlement  in  five  years;  and  to  Ebenezer  Zane  a  tract  of 
three  miles  square  for  opening  a  road  and  constructing  bridges  and 
ferries  upon  it,  from  Wheeling  ,to  Limestone,  passing  in  its  entire 
length  through  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States.  By  accept¬ 
ing  this  trust  and  pledging  the  lands  for  the. payment  of  the  revo¬ 
lutionary  debt,  an  obligation  of  the  most  imperious  nature  rested 
upon  Congress  to  adopt  such  measures  as  should  tend  to  make  the 
lands  valuable  and  productive;  for,  as  waste  and  unappropriated 


5 


[244] 

lands,  they  could  contribute  but  in  a  very  limited  degree,  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  their  extent,  to  pay  the  public  debt,  or  promote  the  com¬ 
mon  benefit  of  all  the  States.  These  grants  tended  to  open  to  the 
view  of  the  enterprising  the  richness  and  capabilities  of  the  lands 
the  United  States  had  acquired,  and  prepared  them  for  sale,  settle¬ 
ment,  and  cultivation  by  purchasers,  who,  from  various  motives, 
might  be  attracted  to  them.  No  one,  it  is  believed,  has  ever  ques¬ 
tioned  the  power  of  Congress  thus  to  dispose  of  the  lands. 

In  more  recent  times,  Congress  has  granted  to  the  new  States 
formed  out  of  the  ceded  territory  a  section  in  each  township  of  six 
miles  square  to  the  inhabitants  thereof,  for  the  use  of  schools. 
Pecuniary  gain  to  the  United  States  was  the  ruling  motive,  for, 
before  the  granted  section  could  be  useful  or  available,  it  became 
indispensable  that  the  remaining  thirty-five  sections  should  be  pur¬ 
chased. 

Trace  the  action  of  Congress  still  further.  In  1802,  Congress, 
in  admitting  Ohio  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  the  first  formed  out  of 
ceded  territory,  gave  the  most  unequivocal  indications  of  their  idea 
of  their  powers  under  the  trust,  by  . granting  to  her  one-twentieth 
part  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  all  such  lands  as  should  be 
-sold  within  her  limits,  after  a  certain  period,  to  be  applied  to  the 
laying  cut  and  making  public  roads  leading  from  the  navigable 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ohio  river;  and  to  the  State  of  Ohio 
and  through  the  same.  It  is  true  this  grant  was  for  certain  ex¬ 
emptions  from  the  exercise  of  State  power,  supposed  to  be  bene¬ 
ficial  to  the  United  States;  yet  who  can  doubt  that  the  most 
powerful  motive  operating  with  Congress  was  to  sell  the  lands. 
The  approach  to  Ohio,  at  that  day,  was  difficult  and  dangerous,  not 
inviting  any  but  the  most  hardy,  bold,  and  enterprising  men. 
They  only  would  risk  the  dangers  attendant  upon  an  advance  to 
the  fertile  grounds  beyond  the  mountains.  Their  numbers  were 
few,  and  the  quantity  of  land  sold  by  the  government  out  of  the 
twenty-five  millions  of  acres  it  owned  in  that  State,  had  not  ex¬ 
ceeded,  at  that  time,  800,000  acres,  exclusive  of  the  sale  to  the 
Ohio  company  and  to  John  Cleves  Symmes. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  March,  1806,  approved  the  “act  to  regulate  the 
laying  out  'and  making  a  road  from  Cumberland,  in  the  State  of 
Maryland,  to  the  State  of  Ohio,”  under  this  grant. 

In  1816,  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison,  Congress  ap¬ 
propriated  $8,000  to  open  a  common  road  through  the  public  lands 
in  the  territory  of  Illinois,  from  the  Ohio  river  to  Kaskaskia,  near 
the  Mississippi. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  1820,  Congress  passed  an  act  to  continue 
the  Cumberland  road  through  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  having,  on  their  admission  into  the  Union,  previously  made 
the  same  grants  of  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands  to  them  for  the  construction  of  roads.  The  title  of  the  act 
is,  “An  act  to  authorize  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  lay 
out  the  road  therein  mentioned;”  and  the  preamble  to  it  is  as 
follows:  “Whereas,  by  the  completion  of  the  Cumberland  road 
from  Wheeling,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  through  the  States  of 


6 


[  244  ] 

Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  the  lands  of  the  United  States  may  be¬ 
come  more  valuable.”  Ten  thousand  dollars  out  of  any  unappro¬ 
priated  money  in  the  treasury  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose, 
and  the  bill  passed  the  Senate,  where  it  originated,  without  a  di- 
vi:  ion,  and  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  seventy-four  ayes  to  thirty-five 
noes.  Enhancing  the  value  of  the  public  lands  was  the  object— the 
means  to  be  used  the  ordinary  revenues  of  the  nation;  thus  estab¬ 
lishing  the  principle,  that  being  the  great  land  owner,  though  in 
trust  for  the  States,  the  money  of  the  cestui  que  trust  could  be 
lawfully  used  to  make  the  lands  valuable  by  making  roads  through 
them.  Congress  considered  if  the  United  States  could  rightfully 
own  all  the  lands  in  those  States,  they  had  the  same  right  an  indi¬ 
vidual  owner  would  have,  to  make  them  saleable  for  the  common 
benefit  by  such  improvements  upon  them.  A  denial  of  this  right 
would  seem  to  involve  a  denial  of  the  right  to  own  them. 

The  grants  to  the  States  of  lands  for  seminaries  of  learning,  for 
seats  of  government,  for  canals  and  turnpike  roads,  which  have 
been  so  often  made,  and  under  different  administrations,  are  to  be 
referred  to  the  same  motive — pecuniary  gain — giving  away  a  por¬ 
tion  to  make  the  residuum  more  saleable;  and  the  desired  result 
has  been  produced,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  rapid  sales  of  the  public 
lands  since  the  grants  w7ere  made,  stimulated  unquestionably  by 
them.  The  official  reports  of  the  General  Land  Office  show,  that 
up  to  the  present  time,  there  has  been  received  for  sales  of  public 
lands  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  more  than  sixty-three  millions 
of  dollars.  That  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  States  has  been 
promoted  by  thus  appropriating  from  this  trust  fund  to  improve  it, 
not  only  in  regard  to  these  moneys  paid  into  the  treasury,  exclud¬ 
ing  the  direct  taxes  and  duties  they  who  work  the  lands  have  also 
paid,  but  in  respect  to  the  increased  strength  afforded  to  the  con¬ 
federacy  by  the  developement  of  the  u  great  west,”  outstripping, 
as  it  has,  the  brightest  visions  of  our  most  sanguine  and  sagacious 
statesmen,  none  will  deny. 

The  committee  have  prepared  a  list  of  all  the  acts  passed  since 
1802,  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement,  under  the  power  grant¬ 
ed  to  Congress  to  dispose  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  marked  (A,)  and  an  inspection  of  it  will  show,  that  under 
every  administration,  nearly,  such  acts  have  received  the  Exe¬ 
cutive  sanction,  and  become  laws. 

The  committee  insist  that  there  is  no  difference  in  the  principle 
of  grants  of  this  nature  and  those  compacts  made  with  all  the  new 
States,  without  exception,  by  which  they  receive  from  the  treasury 
of  the  United  States  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales 
of  the  public  lands,  to  be  applied  to  purposes  of  internal  improve-, 
ment  and  education.  Such  bills  have  received  the  sanction,  as 
well  of  the  present  as  preceding  Presidents,  and  no  constitutional 
objection  was  ever,  at  any  time,  started  to  them. 

Having  disposed  of  this  part  of  the  case,  the  committee  will  ad¬ 
vance  a  few  suggestions  upon  the  remaining  question,  of  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  proposed  road  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  the  States 
generally  as  united  States. 


7 


[  244  ] 

The  State  of  Illinois,  the  committee  are  informed,  by  documen¬ 
tary  and  other  evidence  before  them,  commenced  her  system  of  in¬ 
ternal  improvements  in  l836-’37,  with  a  view  not  only  of  benefitting 
her  own  citizens,  but  to  encoura-ge  emigration  into  the  State,  which, 
by  the  construction  of  railroads  and  canals,  would  cause  their  lands 
to  be  purchased  of  the  United  States  and  cultivated,  for  with  the 
railroad  improvements  the  products  of  the  soil  could  then  be  sent 
to  market  at  a  remunerating  price.  The  State,  having  incurred  a 
debt  of  more  than  twelve  millions  of  dollars  on  account  of  these 
improvements,  was  compelled,  in  1841,  to  suspend  all  further  ad¬ 
vancements  for  them,  not  having  the  credit  to  raise  the  necessary 
means  for  works  so  extensive  as  those  she  had  projected.  Upon 
the  canal,  connecting  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Illinois  river,  the 
State  had  expended  over  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  to  complete 
which  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  were  necessary.  Being  un¬ 
able  to  borrow  this  sum,  the  holders  of  the  bonds  of  the  canal  debt 
agreed  to  advance  the  sum  required  upon  a  pledge,  among  other 
things,  of  the  lands  granted  to  the  State  by  Congress,  which,  when 
sold,  were  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  this  last  advance. 
Under  this  arrangement  the  canal  has  been  completed,  a  part  of 
the  land  has  been  sold,  and  one-half  of  the  cost  of  completing  it 
realized;  and  the  residue  of  the  land,  it  is  believed,  will  more 
than  pay  the  balance  of  the  debt,  and  save  the  interest  on  the  re¬ 
maining  bonds  originally  issued. 

For  the  railroads,  of  wThich  the  committee  understand  the  two 
first  indicated  in  the  bill  under  consideration  were  the  principal 
ones,  the  State  has  incurred  a  debt  of  more  than  eight  millions  of 
dollars.  She  asks  now  a  donation  of  land  on  each  side  of  these 
roads  of  one  half  of  six  sections,  and  a  pre-emption  right  for  the 
other,  half,  in  preference  to  other  purchasers,  for  five  years,  at  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre. 

With  this  grant  of  land  the  State  will  have  inducements  to  offer 
to  her  creditors  to  assume  these  roads  as  they  did  the  canal,  and 
complete  them,  and  thus  relieve  the  State  and  themselves  from  this 
heavy  debt,  annually  increasing  as  it  is  by  the  accumulation  of 
unpaid  interest.  y 

The  lands  asked  for  have  been  in  market,  as  appears  by  a  state¬ 
ment  made  to  the  committee  byr  the  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  on  an  average  of  twTenty  years,  some  of  them  more 
than  thirty,  and  though  rich  and  highly  productive,  being  so  far 
removed  from  market  and  from  timber,  cannot  be  cultivated  to  ad¬ 
vantage  for  the  cost  of  sending  the  produce  to  a  market  is  more 
than  it  will  command  wdth  the  labor  of  producing  added.  Thus 
these  lands  are  valueless  for  cultivation,  without  a  cheap  and  expe¬ 
ditious  mode  of  forwarding  their  productions  to  a  market.  In  ad- 
dit:on  to  this,  the  United  States,  by  the  conditions  of  the  bill,  if  the 
roads  are  made,  will  receive  the  full  value  of  all  the  granted 
lands  in  five  years,  by  the  pre-emption  in  favor  of  the  State  at  the 
enhanced  price  of  $2  50  per  acre. 

It  is  believed,  by  those  most  conversant  with  the  facts,  that  the 
lands  on  these  railroads,  will  bear  a  proportionate  value  to  those 
sold  on  the  canal,  so  that  the  State  will  be  in  a  position  to  invite 


8 


[  244  ] 

capital,  or  the  holders  of  the  bonds  to  assume  these  unfinished 
roads,  and  the  benefit  of  the  grant  of  land,  and  complete  them, 
thereby  rendering  valuable  the  lands,  and  thus  create  a  fund  by 
which  the  whole  cost  of  completing  them  may  be  liquidated,  and 
the  income  derivable  from  the  roads  be  appropriated  to  pay  the 
interest  on  the  first  expenditures,  and  probably  a  sinking  fund,  to 
absorb,  in  time,  the  whole  debt. 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  position  in  which  the 
State  of  Illinois  is  placed  in  respect  to  her  public  debt,  created  for 
improving  the  property  of  the  general  government,  as  much  as  that 
of  her  own,  demands  the  most  favorable  consideration  of  Congress. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  government  will  be  greatly  benefit- 
ted,  as  well  as  that  State,  by  the  completion  of  these  roads,  or 
of  any  one  of  the  leading  ones.  Fertile  lands  within  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles  will  be  purchased  for  cultivation,  which,  without  the 
roads,  may  not  be  saleable  for  many  more  years  to  come.  They 
are  believed  to  be  among  the  most  fertile  lands  in  the  State,  and 
with  easy  means  of  access  to  market,  will  readily  command  the  go¬ 
vernment  price. 

It  may  be  objected  to  the  proposed  grants  that  they  are  very 
large,  and  will  absorb  a  large  quantity  of  the  public  lands.  The 
committee  think  that  the  length  of  the  roads,  requiring  large  grants 
of  land,  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  them,  for  if, 
as  is  unquestionably  the  case,  the  public  lands  through  which  it  is 
proposed  to  run  them,  are  now  unsaleable  for  the  reasons  already 
stated,  and  are  likely  to  remain  so  for  years  to  come;  the  more 
extended  the  road,  the  more  important  it  is  to  the  government,  de¬ 
riving,  as  it  will,  all  the  money  benefit  to  accrue  from  their  construc¬ 
tion,  and  the  longer  the  road  through  unsaleable  lands,  the  greater 
the  benefit.  The  wTiole  amount  of  what  was  public  lands  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
the  General  Land  Office,  exceeds  thirty-five  millions  of  acres,  and 
of  them  there  remain  unsold  at  this  time  more  than  fifteen  mil¬ 
lions  of  acres,  those  nearest  to  the  water  courses  and  timber  and 
market  having  been  sold,  and  near  twenty  millions  of  dollars  paid 
into  the  national  treasury  for  them.  Those  that  remain  unsold, 
being  too  far  removed  from  navigable  rivers  and  timber  for  farm¬ 
ing  and  buildings,  are  unfit  for  cultivation,  but  such  improvements 
through  them,  as  proposed  by  the  bill,  will  make  them  saleable  at 
once. 

The  same  argument  will  apply  to  all  the  States  where  there  are 
large  bodies  of  unsold  public  lands,  and  it  is,  the  committee 
conceive,  a  mistaken  idea  to  suppose  that  such  a  grant  is  a  boon 
given  to  those  States.  If  they  make  the  roads  through  those  lands, 
an  expenditure  will  be  required  of  $15,000  per  mile,  on  an  average, 
before  the  roads  can  be  open  for  use.  The  government  grants  to 
the  State  proposing  to  make  a  road,  for  every  mile  of  road,  one- 
half  of  six  sections  on  each  side  of  it,  and  hold  the  reserved  alter¬ 
nate  sections  at  $2  50  per  acre,  upon  which,  as  in  the  present  bill, 
a  pre-emption  is  granted  to  the  State  at  that  price  for  five  years, 
which  privilege  will  enable  the  State  to  fix  a  minimum  price  upcu 
the  whole  of  the  six  sections  that  will  justify  such  an  enormous 


9 


[244  ] 

expenditure;  and  whilst  the  State  disposes  of  the  lands  granted  to 
her,  she  also  sells  those  for  which  she  has  the  pre-emption  at  the 
same  pnce,  so  that  the  general  government  participates  in  the  pro¬ 
ceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  land  as  -the  roads  progress,  and  in  the  end 
receive  th  e  full  minimum  price  of  %  1  25  per  acre  for  the  whole  six 
sections.  Mo  danger  need  be  apprehended,  the  committee  believe, 
that  the  State  will  keep  those  lands  from  sale  for  the  purposes  of 
speculation,  for  it  would  be  manifestly  her  policy  to  sell  them,  so 
that  they  may  be  cultivated  as  soon  as  practicable,  and  in  small 
portions  to  actual  settlers  upon  them,  for  the  population  of  a  State 
is  its  wealth,  and  the  income  of  the  roads  would  be  increased  by 
their  settlement  and  cultivation,  by  furnishing  increased  freight 
and  travel. 

It  may  also  be  objected  to  these  proposed  grants  that  the  lands 
are  pledged  for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  and  that  it  would 
be  a  breach  of  good  faith  thus  to  misapply  any  portion  of  the 
fund. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  public  domain  of  the  United 
States  in  the  twelve  States  and  organized  'and  unorganized  terri¬ 
tories  exceeds  1.400  millions  of  acres,  arfd  that  the  Indian  title 
has  been  extinguished  to  371  millions,  an  ample  fund  will  remain 
to  our  creditors,  after  these  grants  shall  be  made,  more  than  suffi¬ 
cient  to  secure  them  were  the  debt  increased  four  fold,  if  such 
security  is  at  all  required.  But  the  committee  believe  these  grants 
of  so  small  a  part  of  the  public  domain  to  improve  the  residue, 
will  increase  our  ability  to  discharge  our  debt,  and  more  speedily 
than  it  can  be  if  the  proposed  improvements  are  not  made.  That 
debt,  the  President  tells  us  in  his  late  message,  is  small  in  comparison 
with  the  debts  of  other  nations,  and  is  now  in  a  course  of  reduc¬ 
tion  by  the  ordinary  revenues  of  the  country.  These  revenues  are 
derived  principally  from  customs  and  public  lands,  the  latter  esti¬ 
mated  at  about  three  millions  of  dollars  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
30th  of  June  next,  and  mostly  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  fresh 
lands  in  the  newest  States.  It  is  from  these  the  greatest  part  of 
our  revenue  from  lands  has  been  derived  for  several  years  past,  and 
that  policy  which  brings  them  rapidly  into  market  has  always 
been  putsued  by  the  government  as  the  best  for  it  and  for  the  people; 
The  construction  of  any  one  of  the  leading  roads  through  them, 
the  committee  believe,  will  have  the  same  effect  upon  the  great 
body  of  the  lands  within  thirty  miles  of  it,  which  have  remained 
unsold  for  thirty  years,  that  surveying  and  bringing  into  market 
fresh  lands  would  have.  The  routes  of  the  roads  are,  for  the  most 
part,  over  vast  prairies,  with  unparalleled  powers  of  production, 
yet  destitute  of  timber,  and  remote  from  ready  and  cheap  means 
of  conveyance  to  market.  In  this  wide  waste,  the  United  States 
have  an  interest  amounting  to  millions,  and  which  will  be  realized 
so  soon  as  a  great  avenue  to  market  is  opened  through  them,  and 
purchasers  will  eagerly  take  an  interest  in  what  is  now  a  worthless 
possession.  It  will  operate  as  a  most  powerful  stimulus  to  their 
sale,  as  it  will  bring  to  the  lands  a  thoroughfare  far  surpassing  all 
others  used  by  man.  Thus  an  increased  income  will  be  derived  from 
them,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  our  loans  as  they  become 


30 


[  244  ] 

due.  In  this  point  of  view,  then,  such  grants  would  not  be  a 
breach  of  faith  to  our  creditors,  as  it  will  not  decrease  the  fund 
set  apart  for  their  security. 

The  committee  believe  that  the  old  States  of  the  confederacy  are 
quite  as  much  interested  in  the  construction  of  these  roads  as  the 
State  through  which  they  are  projected,  for  the  immense  produc¬ 
tions  of  that  State,  now  daily  on  the  increase,  will  seek  a  market, 
at  some  seasons  of  the  year,  over  their  works  of  a  similar  kind,  and 
articles  of  consumption,  to  supply  them,  be  transported  to  the  west 
by  the  same  means;  the  prices  of  which,  to  the  consumer,  being 
reduced  by  the  reduced  rates  of  transportion,  and  the  price  of  their 
productions  enhanced  by  the  same  cause.  Although  the  old  States 
do  not  directly  participate  in  the  grant  itself,  yet  they  have  a  large 
proportion  of  the  advantages  to  flow  from  it  by  the  increased  trade 
with  the  west,  an  object  of  so  much  importance  to  them  as  to  have 
induced  the  expenditure  already  of  millions  of  dollars  to  secure. 

To  illustrate  more  clearly  the  importance,  of  these  western  roads, 
through  the  public  lands,  to  every  section  of  our  Union,  the  com¬ 
mittee  have  prepared  a  skeleton  map,  appended  to  this  report, 
showing  the  railroads  completed,  and  in  progress,  in  the  United 
States,  and  those  propos’ed  through  the  public  lands,  and  their  con¬ 
nexion  with  the  harbors  on  the  lakes  and  seaboard;  and,  as  distance 
is  no  longer  measured  by  miles,  but  by  minutes,  it  will  be  seen,  on 
reference  to  the  map,  that,  by  the  shortest  railroad  routes,  at  the 
average  speed  of  twenty-five  miles  per  hour,  assuming  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio  as  u  the  geographical  centre  of  the  United  States,'5  that 


distance  is  almost  annihilated. 

From  Cairo  to —  Hours. 

Mobile . . . 

Pensacola. . . .  . . . . 

New  Orleans . 26 

Nashville . . . 

Charleston . . . . . 

Louisville . . 

Cincinnati . . . 

St.  Louis . . . 

Alton . 

Springfield . 10 

Peru . 12 

Chicago .  10 

Galena . . .  . . . 

Detroit . . . 

Buffalo . 33 

Indianapolis  . . . . . 

Columbus . 

Wheeling . 

Pittsburg . . 

Baltimore .  36 

Philadelphia .  38 

New  York . 42 

Boston . 

Portland  . 55 


11 


[244] 


And  in  the  same  proportion  for  intermediate  points. 

Now,  by  the  most  speedy  steamboat  routes,  the  trip  to  New 
Orleans,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  requires  four  and  a  half  days; 
to  Pittsburg  six  days,  and  to  Galena  three  and  a  Jialf  days.  As 
‘time  is  money,”  here  is  an  immense  gain,  which  should  not  escape 
attention,  and  should  have  its  proper  weight,  not  only  in  regard  to 
the  var-t  business  operations  of  our  people,  but  in  regard  to  the  in¬ 
ducements  presented  by  such  works  through  tpe  public  lands,  to 
their  sale  and  settlement.  Besides,  the  great  facilities  afforded  by 
such  works,  for  frequent  and  rapid  intercourse  between  the  most 
distant  and  divided  parts  of  the  Union,  will  have  a  certain  effect  to 
destroy  much  of  the  prejudice  which  now  exists  among  them,  and 
tend  very  greatly,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  to  preserve  the 
harmony  and  union  of  the  States. 

To  show  the  extent  of  the  inland  navigation  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  committee  submit  the  following  extract  from 
u  Peck’s  Gazette  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,”  a  work  of  decided 
merit,  and  prepared  by  one  of  the  most  intelligent  citizens  of  the 
west:  u  The  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  with  their  tributary  rivers,  form 
an  inland  navigation  exceeding  20,000  miles,  for  various  class  of 
boats  during  two- thirds  of  the  year  to  the  point  of  junction  at 
Cairo;  from  thence  to  New  Orleans,  a  distance  of  1,000  miles,  the 
river  is  navigable  the  whole  year  for  the  largest  class  of  boats.” 

With  the  rich  back  country  bordering  on  these  rivers,  railroads 
and  canals,  how  vast  must  be  the  exports  and  imports  of  these 
western  States  at  some  future  day,  and  what  immense  revenue  they 
must  pour  into\the  national  treasury?  And,  in  this  view  of  the 
question,  the  committee  will  submit  a  few  remarks  in  vindication 
of  the  policy  of  these  grants. 

As  to  the  extent  of  the  grants  asked  for  by  the  several  States, 
the  committee  believe  great  misapprehension  exists  even  among 
the  best  informed,  and  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  something 
like  a  correct  estimate  of  the  quantity  to  be  granted  by  the  several 
propositions  before  Congress,  the  committee  have  made  much  in¬ 
quiry,  and  cannot  make  the  quantity  to  exceed  7,814,400  acres,  being 
for  2,035  miles  of  railroads,  and  on  every  mile  of  which  there  must 
be  an  average  expenditure  of  $15,000,  to  make  the  grants  available 
for  anyjpurpose,  causing  an  expenditure  of  thirty  and  a  half  millions 
of  dollars  by  the  States  accepting  the  grants. 

The  committee  leave  out  of  view  the  grant  asked  for  by  a  single 
individual  to  construct  a  railroad  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pa¬ 
cific,  which  alone  would  require  ten  times  the  quantity  of  land  on 
all  the  proposed  railroads  of  the  several  States,  and  which,  if 
granted,  must  deprive  all  the«^t  States  of  any  reasonable  hope  of 
obtaining  an  acre  of  public  land.  The  committee  throw  that  pro¬ 
position  out  of  view  in  this  estimate,  and  then  insist  that  if  the 
roads  are  constructed  by  these  grants,  the  United  States,  by  the 
sale  of  the  residuum  to  be  caused  by  the  improvements,  and  by.  the 
increase  of  our  exports  and  imports,  by  opening  to  cultivation  so 
many  more  millions*  of  acres,  as  they  will  do,  must  be  a  great 
gainer  by  the  grants. 


12 


[  244  ] 

The  leading  road  proposed  by  the  bill ?  as  the  committee  have 
already  stated,  passes  through  lands  as  fertile  as  any  in  the  State, 
which  have  now  been,  quite  one-half  of  them,  in  market  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  yet  unsold,  because  they  are  about 
equidistant  from  the  Wabash  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  so  remote 
from  each  that  the  expense  of  transporting  grain  renders  the  crop  * 
of  no  value;  whereas,  if  these  roads  were  made  on  any  one  of 
them,  the  expense  of  transportation  would  be  so  much  reduced 
that  these  lands,  now  unoccupied  and  unproductive,  would  be  put 
under  cultivation,  and,  by  increasing  the  exports,  greatly  increase 
the  imports,  and  thus  increase  the  revenue.  If  we  assume  that  the 
central  railroad  will  be  via  Chicago  to  the  upper  Mississippi,  five 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and,  if  made,  will  cause  one-twentieth  part 
of  the  lands  lying  within  twenty  miles  of  it  to  be  cultivated  in 
wheat,  and  that  one-fourth  part  of  the  wheat  thus  produced  will 
be  sent  abroad  to  market,  the  result  upon  the  revenue  will  surprise 
those  who  have  not  examined  the  proposition  in  this  aspect.  Thus, 
it  the  road  be  five  hundred  miles  long,  twenty  miles  on  each  side 
will  embrace  an  area  of  twenty  thousand  square  miles,  or  twelve 
millions  eight  hundred  thousand  acres,  one-twentieth  part  of  which 
is  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres.  If  we  assume  that  the 
average  product  of  the  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres  would 
be  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  it  would  give  twelve  millions  eight 
hundred  thousand  bushels,  one-fourth  of  which  is  three  millions  two 
hundred  thousand  bushels.  If  we  assume  that  the  average  price  in 
the  port  of  New’  York  to  be  but  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and  it  be 
true  that  the  amount  of  our  imports  is  equal  to  our  exports,  and 
that  the  average  rate  of  duty  is  but  twTenty-five  per  cent.,  then  the 
effect  of  the  grant  proposed  wrould  be  to  bring  under  cultivation 
six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres  of  land,  producing  twelve 
millions  eight  hundred  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  one-fourth  or 
three  millions  two  hundred  thousand  bushels  might  be  sent  abroad; 
and,  if  so,  would  pay  for  three  millions  two  hundred  thousand  dol¬ 
lars’  worth  of  foreign  merchandise,  which  would  pay  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  per  annifm  revenue  into  the  treasury.  And  in  this 
aspect  of  the  case  the  committee  urge,  that  astounding  as  this  re¬ 
sult  would  seem,  it  is  indeed  less  than  the  actual  result  to  flow 
from  the  measure  proposed;  and  that  by  adding  so  much  to  the 
agricultural  resources  of  the  country,  Congress  will  do  much  more 
to  advance  the  interests,  welfare,  and  prosperity  of  the  United 
States,  than  if  they  permit  these  lands  to  remain  as  they  now  are, 
unoccupied  and  unproductive.  ' 

But  there  is  another  argument  \^hich  the  State  can  urge  w’ith 
peculiar  force.  It  is  this:  the  direct  interest  she  has  in  the  sale 
and  settlement  of  these  lends,  so  that  they  may  be  subjected  to  her 
taxing  power.  The  government  is  pledged,  impliedly  at  least,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  committee,  to  cease  the  ownership  over  these 
lands  in  a  reasonable  time,  in  order  that  the  States  may  exercise 
their  sovereignty  over  them.  They  have  undertaken  to  form  them 
into  distinct  republican  States — not  mere  physical  divisions  of  ter¬ 
ritorial  surface  marked  by  lines  and  called.  States,  but  political 


I 


13 


[244  ] 


communities,  having  the  same  rights  of  freedom,  sovereignty  and'' 
independence  the  old  States  possess.  Now,  it  is  manifest  this  can¬ 
not  be  done  perfectly,  so  long  as  the  United  States  control  the  dis¬ 
posal  of  the  soil,  and  to  the  extent  of  that  control  are  the  States 
deprived  of  their  rights  to  tax  property  within  its  limits.  Justice, 
then,  to  the  State"  would  seem  to  require  that  all  reasonable  acts 
should  be  done  by  Congress  which,  without  being  injurious  to  the 
government,  shall  so  greatly  benefit  the  State,  and  enable  her  to 
raise  taxes  from  them  to  support  her  government  and  pay  her  debts. 

In  view  of  the  rapidity  by  which  distance  can  be  passed  over  by 
a  system  of  railroads,  such  as  is  exhibited  by  the  map,  and  to  the 
benefits  resulting  to  community  at  large,  by  the  certain  and  rapid 
transmission  of  the  mails,  thereby  increasing  mail  matter,  and,  con¬ 
sequently,  the  revenues  of  that  important  department,  under  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  cheap  postages,  the  committee  are  further  strengthened  in 
their  confidence  of  the  importance  of  the  proposed  measure,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  advantages  to  result  to  the  country  as  a  great  and 
important  aid  in  our  national  defences,  rendering  the  collection  of 
troops  from  the  interior,  upon  any  threatened  point  on  the  sea¬ 
board,  at  once  speedy  and  certain. 

In  view  of  all  the  considerations  presented,  the  committee  do  not 
hesitate  to  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill,  without  amendment. 


A.' 

Statement  of  laws  of  the  United  States ,  making  grants  of  lands  to 
the  new  States ,  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement ,  viz: 

Vol.  Page. 


1802,  Ap’l  30.  The  20th  part  of  the  net  proceeds  of  lands  jn  Ohio,  granted  to 

make  roads  from  waters  of  Atlantic  to  Ohio  river,  &c. . .  2  175  ’ 

1803,  Mar.  3.  Three  per  cent,  of  net  proceeds  of  lands  in  Ohio,  granted  for 

making  roads  within  that  State . 2  226 

1811,  Feb.  20.  Five  per  centum  of  proceeds  of  sale  of  lands  in  State  of  Louisiana, 

to  be  applied  to  making  roads  and  levees  in  that  State .  2  643 

1816,  Ap’l  19.  Five  per  centum  of  proceeds  of  lands  in  Indiana,  to  be  applied  to 

making  roads  and  canals . 3  290 

1817,  Mar.  1.  Same  as  it  regards  proceeds  of  lands  in  State  of  Mississippi .  3  349 

1818,  Ap’l  18.  Two-fifths  of  five  per  cent,  of  net  proceeds  of  sales  of  public  lands 

in  Illinois,  to  be  applied  to  making  roads .  3  430 

1819,  Mar.  2.  Five  per  cent,  on  net  proceeds  of  sales  in  Alabama,  to  be  applied 

to  internal  improvements. . . . 3  491 

1820,  Mar.  6.  Five  per  cent,  on  net  sales  in  Missouri,  to  be  applied  to  making 

roads  and  canals .  3  547 

1827,  Mar.  2.  One-half  of  five  sections  in  width,  on  each  side  of  canal  in  Illi¬ 

nois,  and  reserving  each  alternatevsection  to  the  United  States 
from  one  end  of  the  said  canal  to  the  other,  granted  to  the 


State  of  Illinois,  to  be  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  Legislature  • 
of  that  State,  for  that  purpose . . . .  4 


234 


[244] 


14 

i  f 


Vol. 

1827,  Mar.  2.  Same  quantity,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  Wabash  and  Erie 
canal,  granted  to  the  State  of  Indiana,  subject  to  like  con- 

^  *  ditions . . . . .  4 

1827,  Mar.  2.  The  strip  of  land  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  treaty  by  the  Pot- 
.  tawatomie  Indians,  October  16,  1826,  granted  to  the  State  of 
Indiana,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  road  from  Lake  Michigan, 
by  Indianapolis,  to  some  convenient  point  on  the  Ohio  river, 
viz:  a  strip  of  land,  from  Lake  Michigan,  thence  to  the  Wabash, 

100  feet  wide,  for  a  road;  and,  also,  one  section  of  good  land, 
contiguous  to  the  said  road,  for  each  mile  of  the  same;  and, 
also,  for  each  mile  of  a  road,  from  the  termination  thereof, 
through  Indianapolis,  to  the  Ohio  river.  (The  right  to  locate 
the  road,  and  dispose  of  the  grant,  was  secured  to  Indiana  by 
the  2d  article  of  the  said  treaty) .  4 

1827,  Mar.  3.  Granted  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  aid  the  Columbus  and  Sandusky 

Turnpike  Company  in  making  a  road,  one-half  of  a  quantity  of 
land,' equal  to  two  sections,  on  the  western  side  of  said  road, 
and  most  contiguous  thereto,  to  be  bounded  by  sectional  lines, 
from  one  end  of  said  road  to  the  other,  wheresoever  the  same 
may  remain  unsold;  reserving  to  the  United  States  each  alter¬ 
nate  section  the  whole  length  of  said  road  through  the  lands  of 
the  United  States:  provided  that  no  toll  be  paid  by  the  United 
States,  &c . * .  4 

1828,  Ap’l  17.  In  lieu  of  the  lands  appropriated  by  the  preceding  act,  there  was 

granted  to  the  State  of  Ohio  49  sections  of  land,  to  be  located 
in  the  Delaware  land  district  in  a  particular  manner,  therein 

stated.. . . . .  4 

1828,  May  23.  400,000  acres  »f  land  granted  to  Alabama,  to  be  applied  to  the 
improvement  of  the  Muscle  shoals  and  Colbert’s  shoals,  in  the 
Tennessee  river,  and  the  navigation  of  certain  other  rivers....  4 
1828,  May  24.  Granted  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  extend  the  Miami  canal  from 
Dayton  to  Lake  Erie,  by  the  Maumee  route,  a  quantity  of 
land,  equal  to  one-half  of  five  sections  in  width,  on  each  side  of 
said  canal,  between  Dayton  and  the  Maumee  river,  &c.,  See.; 
also,  500,000  acres,  to  aid  the  State  of  Ohio  in  paying  the  debt 
contracted  by  that  State  in  the  construction  of  canals  within  the 
same,  and  the  interest  thereon. .  4 

1835,  Mar.  3.  Land  over  which  certain  railroads  would  be  constructed  in  Ala¬ 

bama,  Georgia,  and  Florida,  granted  to  the  companies  incor¬ 
porated  by  the  legislatures,  viz:  the  land  over  which  the  roads 
shall  pass,  and  30  feet  on  each  side  thereof,  and  the  privilege 
of  using  the  timber  for  100  yards  on  each  side  of  said  roads,  for 
the  construction  and  repair  of  said  roads  ;  also,  10  acres  at  the 
termination  of  said  roads,  &c. . 

1836,  July  2.  Land,  80  feet  wide,  granted  to  the  New  Orleans  and  Nashville 


15 


s 


\ 


[244  ] 


Yol,  Page. 

Railroad  Company;  and,  also,  five  acres  for  every  15  miles  of 
the  road,  for  depots,  &c . . . 

1836,  July  _  4.  Five  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  lands  within 

the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  granted  to  those  States 
respectively,  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement  within  the 
same . 

1837,  Jan.  31.  Land,  80  feet  wide,  and  certain  privileges  granted  to  certain  in- 

corpprated  railroad  companies  in  Florida,  &c . 

1837,  Mar.  3.  The  same  granted  to  Atchafalaya  Railroad  and  Banking  Com- 
•  pany,  incorporated  by  the  State  of  Louisiana,  &c . 

1837,  Mar.  3.  The  same  granted  to  the  New  Orleans  and  Carrollton  Railroad 

Company,  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana . 

1838,  June  23.  Land,  80  feet  wide,  and  certain  privileges,  granted  to  the  Florida 

Peninsula  Railroad  and  Steamboat  Company,  incorporated  by 

the  legislative  council  of  Florida . 

183S,  June  18.  Granted  to  Wisconsin,  for  opening  a  canal  to  unite  the  waters  of 
Lake  Michigan  with  those  of  Rock  river,  between  the  point  of 
intersection  wfith  said  river,  of  the  line  dividing  towns,  7  and 
8  and  the  Lake  Koshkonong,  all  the  land  heretofore  not  other¬ 
wise  appropriated  or  disposed  of  in  those  sections  and  frac¬ 
tional  sections  which  are  numbered  with  odd  numbers  on  the 
plats  of  the  public  surveys,  within  the  breadth  of  five  full  sec¬ 
tions,  taken  in  north  and  south,  or  east  and  west  tiers,  on  each 
side  of  the  main  route  of  said  canal,  from  one  end  thereof  to  the 
other,  and  reserving  the  even  numbered  sections  and  fractional 
sections,  taken  as  above,  to  the  United  States  ;  and  the  said 
land,  so  granted  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  said  canal,  shall 
be  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  legislature  of  the  said  territory, 

for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  and  no  other  . . 

1841,  Sept,  4.  Granted  by  the  “  Act  to  appropriate  the  proceeds  of  the.  sales  of 
the  public  lands,  and  to  grant  pre-emption  rights,”  as  follows, 
viz  :  “That,  from  and  after  the  31st  day  of  December,  1841, 
there  be  allowed  and  paid  to  each  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indi¬ 
ana,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Ar¬ 
kansas,  and  Michigan,  over  and  above  what  each  of  the  said 
States  is  entitled  to  by  the  terms  of  the  compacts  entered  into 
between  them  and  the  United  States,  upon  their  admission  into 
the  Union,  the  sum  of  ten  per  centum  upon  the  net  proceeds  of 
the  sales  of  the  public  lapds,  which,  subsequent  to  the  day  afore¬ 
said,  shall  be  made  within  the  limits  of  each  of  said  States  re¬ 
spectively;  and  the  residue  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands,  after  deducting  the  expenses  for  their  survey  and 
management,  to  be  divided  among  the  several  States  and  Terri¬ 
tories  of  the  United  States.”  And,  in  addition  to  the  above, 
there  was  granted  to  each  of  the  new  States  above  mentioned, 
and  to  such  new  States  as  may  be  hereafter  admitted,  500,000 


[  244  ] 


16 


Vol.  Page. 

acres  of  land  within  their  limits  respectively ,  deducting  in  each 

case  from  that  quantity  any  lands  previously  granted  to  them  as  » 

States  or  as  Territories . 

1844,  June  15.  A  section  of  land  granted  for  the  improvement  of  Grant  river,  at 

the  town  of  Potosi,  in  Wisconsin  Territory . . 

1845,  Mar.  3.  By  the  “  Act  to  grant  certain  lands  to  the  State  of  Indiana,  the 

better  to  enable  the  said  State  to  extend  and  complete  the 
Waba^i  and  Erie  canal,  from  Terre  Haute  to  the  Ohio  river,” 
there  was  granted  to  said  State  one  moiety  of  the  public  lands, 

(remaining  unsold  and  not  otherwise  disposed  of,  encumbered, 
or  appropriated,)  a  strip  five  miles  in*  width  on  each  side  of  said 
canal,  to  be  selected  by  an  agent,  ko.,  reserving  to  the  United 
States  each  alternate  section,  kc.,  from  one  end  of  said  canal  to 
the  other.  There  was  also  granted  by  this  act,  for  the  same 
object,  one  moiety  of  all  the  other  lands  in  the  Vincennes  land 
district,  in  said  State,  and  which  remain  as  aforesaid  unsold  and 
not  otherwise  disposed  of,  encumbered,  or  appropriated .  5  731 

1845,  Mar.  3.  By  the  act  supplemental  to  the  act  for  the  admission  of  the  States 

of  Iowa  and  Florida  into  the  Union,  there  was  granted  to  the 
State  of  Iowa  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  sales  of  all 

•  >•  i  •  i).  t  •  •  *  /  , 

>  public  lands  lying  within  the  said  State,  which  have  been,  or 

shall  be  sold  by  Congress,  from  and  after  the  admission  of  said 
State,  after  deducting  all  the  expenses  incident  to  the  same, 
shall  be  appropriated  for  making  public  roads  and  canals  within 
the  said  State,  as  the  legislature  may  direct .  5  790 

1840,  Aug.  8.  Granted  by  act  of  this  date  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  for'the  pur¬ 
pose  of  aiding  said  Territory  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the 
Des  Moines  river  from  its  mouth  to  the  Racoon  Fork,  (so 
called,)  in  said  Territory,  one  equal  moiety,  in  alternate  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  public  lands,  (remaining  unsold,  kc.,)  in  a  strip 
five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  said  river. — Pamphlet  laws, 

1st  session  29th  Congress,  page  115 . . . 

1846,  Aug.  8.  Granted  by  act  of  this  date  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  on  the  ad¬ 

mission  of  such  State  into  the  Union,  for  the  purpose  of  improv¬ 
ing  the  navigation  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  in  the  Ter¬ 
ritory  of  Wisconsin,  and  of  constructing  the  canal  to  unite  the 
said  rivers  at  or  near  the  portage,  a  quantity  of  land,  equal  to 
one  half  of  three  sections  in  width,  on  each  side  of  said  Fox 
river,  and  the  lakes  through  which  it  passes,  frohi  its  mouth  to 
the  point  where  the  Portage  canal  shall  enter  the  same,  and  on 
each  side  of  the  said  canal,  from  one  stream  to  the  other, 
reserving  the  alternate  sections  to  the  United  States,  kc. — Pam¬ 
phlet  laws,  1st  session  29th  Congress,  page  140 . . . 


I 


30th  Congress, 
2d  Session. 


[SENATE.] 


Rep.  Com., 
No.  245. 


\ 

IN  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  * 


December  28,  1848. 

Submitted,  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Downs  made  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Private  Land  Claims ,  to  whom  was  referred  the 

petition  of  Joshua  Holden ,  report : 

That,  from  the  memorial  and  evidence  before  them,  it  appears 
that  the  petitioner  is,  by  settlement,  entitled  to  the  same  right  of 
pre-emption  on  the  16th  section  of  township  15,  range  5  east, 
in  the  district  of  lands  subject  to  entry  at  Ouachita,  Louisiana,  as 

- Sexton,  in  favor  of  whom  a  bill  has  been  reported  and  passed 

the  House  of  Representatives.  The  petitioner  Holden  claims  the 
west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  said  section,  and  said  Sexton 
claims  the  east  half  of  the  same  quarter.  There  is,  therefore,  no 
conflict  between  them,  but  both  may  be  allowed  to  secure  their  im¬ 
provements.  The  committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  bill  in 
favor  of  Sexton  be  so  amended  as  to  include  the  petitioner,  and 
direct  their  chairman  to  move  sbch  amendment  to  the  bill  when  it 
comes  up. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF 
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AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIQN 
ILL.  HIST.  SURVEY 


